Newest Companion
by 2mytwin
Summary: A new girl comes into Jack's life but seems to know more than she should about the wonders of aliens and the rift in Cardiff. As she becomes intrigued by Jack she has some mysteries of her own, and soon she shakes up Jack and Ianto's relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is set after Season One in place of Season Two so all characters are there. I plan to make this a long series and will continue the story to a Doctor Who crossover later on so please continue reading and all comments are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Part 1: New Girl

Midway through her fourth drink, Jack thought while watching the girl who has been sitting next to him for the past ten minutes. But of course Jack didn't feel as affected by alcohol, an infinite life he had; why should he save the good stuff.

"Another," he ordered from the barkeep.

"A few more and you'll set a record," the girl finally said. Jack liked seeing how other people made a first move. He was watching her watching him, and smiled as he put out his hand for a proper introduction. "Captain Jack Harkness."

The girl replied with an equally appetizing smile as she shook his hand and answered, "Emma Langdon."

"So, are you more interested in my liver or impaired judgment?" Jack can never resist a little human flirting.

"I would advise a doctor visit, but there are other forms of therapy," she remarked with a coy smile, that went well with her blonde hair and London accent.

"I actually just came back from my Doctor." It almost seemed like Jack couldn't get him off his mind.

"Seems a bit late for a doctor visit."

"Never a bad time to visit my Doctor."

"Might I interest you in another doctor visit, involving my bed?" Emma knew how to turn things around to get her way. But of course, unbeknownst to her she really didn't have to when it came to Captain Jack.

Soon Jack and Emma were intensely snogging against the wall of her bedroom. Jack enjoyed his talent of removing clothing with his eyes closed, whether they were his or someone else's clothes. And Emma didn't even mind dealing with his clothing accessories, he did look rather dashing in his vintage look.

"You always wear these suspenders?" she asked while taking them off.

"You always wear a thong?"

"Only when I try to catch old war time heroes."

"Old?" Jack chuckled, he was looking good for his age but grey hairs are bad at any age.

"Oh, sorry love."

"Don't be; I'm older than I look."

"I'd like to look at you without any pants on."

Emma pushed him on her bed and they continued what they knew was going to happen when they caught each other's eyes twenty minutes earlier, until Jack had to leave to take care of a blowfish.

XXX

Jack, Tosh, and Owen were rushing through the city in the SUV, as Ianto and Gwen were keeping their watch on the alert. This particular rift activity debris presented the team with quite some difficulty, but they were used to it; if only there would be less activity happening during nighttime, 'too much sleep' was a phrase seldom if ever heard.

"Keep going toward Flayton Street and there should be an old lot there," Tosh directed Jack.

"Ianto, are you getting these frequency readings?" Gwen asked with slight confusion.

"Yes, but they're fluctuating," Ianto confirmed Gwen's concern.

"That might be because of the rift, Ianto." Owen quickly condescended Ianto as expected by him.

Tosh was furiously typing on her laptop, "He's right, it's flashing. It's like one minute it's an alien and the next it's not. We can't track it if it's being read as non-alien. You have to hurry Jack."

At the ready to keep his cool and reputation Jack replied, "You know very few people tell me to hurry up."

"Jack, whatever it is, it's falling off our radar," Gwen reminded.

They pulled up to where the signal was indicating and all three quickly rushed out of the car to find it. But nothing was in their sight.

"Where is it?" Jack asked.

Tosh trying to use her hand-held device answered, "I can't find the signal."

"Tosh, the reading's gone," Gwen replied through the Bluetooth.

"It couldn't have disappeared," Owen remarked.

"Well any sign of it has, it's like it flat lined," Ianto told them.

None of the Torchwood members could find any immediate sign of the previously frantic signal. Jack ordered Tosh and Owen to look for any evidence while he went around to search. As he came around a corner, he could see the shapes of a jeep and two people whispering in hushed voices. Jack stayed hidden and quiet in order to hear any parts of their conversation.

One of the people asked, "Is it secure?"

The second person confirmed that it was and loaded it into the jeep which left so quickly Jack could only catch the name UNIT on the side of the jeep. Jack made his way back to the rest of his investigating team.

"Did you find anything?" Tosh asked as she saw him coming.

"Just some meddling friends." Jack answered.

"What?" asked Owen.

"Nothing, collect all the evidence and take it back to the Hub."

XXX

The well-lit office of busy UNIT workers was full of the low-level officers that made up that department. Emma Langdon walked in and was soon greeted by her co-worker Henry.

"Back from earning your pay?" Henry asked.

"Just another day at the office," Emma liked keeping her job simple, "Where's the Grendal we just brought in?"

"Investigative Ops has it, and Danny said he wants you to turn in the report by tomorrow."

"Thanks Henry." Emma started on her computer and worked as she had for the past two years.

XXX

A day at Torchwood central was quickly interrupted by yet another weevil alert which was starting to become part of a normal Torchwood day. The next part that always happened was trying to decide who would have to go after it. If only those weevils could stay underground.

"It's a weevil alert, whose turn is it?" Tosh asked hoping that by asking first no one would suggest her.

"Owen and I went last time," Gwen yelled from the other room.

"Busy, Jack can you go?" Ianto asked.

"You just want to see me in my coat," Jack said as he walked to the rack to get it.

Jack came to an empty business building and heard the weevil on the roof. He ran up there as with great haste to be surprised and see Emma there and be more surprised that she was holding a gun.

"What are you doing here? You need to leave," Jack said with urgency. The last thing he needed was a common casualty much less from a one-night stand he had a few days ago.

Emma was just as surprised to see her last fling there as well. "Jack? I'm busy, and I actually need you to leave."

Jack didn't have time to deal with this, "I'm not kidding, unless you want to be killed by a weevil you should leave."

Stunned, Emma asked, "How do you know what a weevil is?"

"How do _you_?"

Then the weevil jumped out and tackled Emma, knocking her gun out of her hand. Jack hoping to keep this as bloodless as possible jumped in to help her and detain the weevil. But Jack and Emma still tried to deal with each other being up there while trying to fight the weevil allowing it to escape and run back into the building.

"Thanks, now I lost it," Emma complained as she searched for her dropped gun and put it back in its place.

"Oh please, you were in my way."

"Just get out of here and let me deal with this." Which was what she was already doing as she was setting up some sort of harness on the edge of the roof.

"Are you saying I can't be here, because it was about to claw off your arm if I hadn't come in."

"Don't flatter yourself, I'm saying you _shouldn't _be here, unless you know how to deal with these things."

"What? And you do?" Jack said as he pulled out his can of anti-weevil spray to show he certainly knew what he was doing.

Emma was surprised to see he had that, but she continued to strap the harness around her. "It's getting away." She stepped on the ledge ready to deploy.

"So am I." Jack started walking back.

"Me first." And then Emma jumped off of the ledge in professional style.

Ready to finish off this back and forth tango of theirs he gave a running start and jumped off of the building to reach there first. Emma saw, in amazement, him quickly falling to his death and rushed down the building, retracted her equipment, and looked for his body. All of a sudden Jack and the weevil popped out fighting, to which she pulled out a syringe and lunged at the weevil it inject it causing it to fall down within seconds.

"What the hell was that? You don't have a scratch on you!"

"Yeah they don't suit me well." But more concerned on dealing with the weevil than her he quickly asked, "What did you inject him with?"

She showed him the syringe and answered, "It's epinephrine."

"This can kill him."

"With the amount I gave it will. What? Were you planning on doing something else with it?"

"Capture him not kill."

"Well that's not part of my job."

"And what exactly is your job?"

At that time they heard a car approaching to which Emma replied with a hint of worry in her voice, "Hide!"

"What?"

"Just do it." And she pushed him aside. "The Lounge Bar, 8:00."

The car pulled up and a man came out asking, "Is the creature detained?"

"Affirmative." The two loaded in the weevil and equipment before Jack could have a proper reaction. He went back to the Hub without a weevil but with a purpose. He went on his computer and searched the name Emma Langdon. He saw the basic information identifying her as a 25 year-old female from Cardiff, Wales. And then he saw the important link that said Affiliations: UNIT to which he clicked on. After some hacking he found her file showing that she joined in 2005 and had training in alien combat. Jack continued reading her profile but on the section that disclosed her current occupation it denied him access as it was classified. He tried again to open it, wondering why it would be classified but it stayed locked. It seemed that unraveling this mystery was going to happen over a drink.

XXX

Emma sat in the Lounge Bar at a small table in the corner. It was 7:50 and she was hoping he would arrive after her rude leaving.

"I ordered us martinis," Jack said as he came up. His sly cool tone immediately set the mood, Emma seemed to fall into the same spell of his charm just like the first night they met.

"I like them shaken, not stirred."

"Shaken, I'll remember that." Jack couldn't help it; he had to do at least one.

"From my memory, it seems you already knew that." She probably shouldn't have brought up that one night but both were equally surprised at the chances that they would see each other again much less in the way they ran into each other again.

"Well, I am psychic."

"Then I guess the only one who needs to do any explaining is you."

"Why don't we both go; I'll answer one of your questions and you answer one of mine."

The waitress came and put their drinks on the table. Emma waited until she left to say, "Fine, me first. What are you?"

"Tackling everything in one question. I'm part of Torchwood. We deal with everything alien related, especially those with the rift in the city. We're under no one's control; we assess the alien situation and handle it, to our advantage, to prepare us. Who do you work for?"

Emma only wanted to see if Jack was an actual threat or some random person interested in aliens. She had no intention on revealing herself. "Something… private."

"That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Yep."

"Then I'll change the question. I know you have a background with UNIT – "

"You looked me up?"

"It's my turn. What did you do with UNIT?"

She could still make a cover for her but obviously not everything could stay hidden. "That was my old job. We worked under a small branch of UNIT. What's your real name?"

"I told you the first time, Captain Jack Harkness."

"Really?"

"That's another question. If you worked with UNIT why don't you know about Torchwood."

Emma certainly didn't like not knowing things, hiding information was more her forte. But she could reveal a little bit. "The branch I worked under didn't deal with just alien and rift activity, we covered everything, even any oddities relating to Earth and humans. We didn't react to alien activity; we reacted to normal activity and waited for alien activity. Therefore we needed manpower a lot of manpower, and workers were only allowed to know the minimum amount of information needed to get the job done. We knew everything we needed to for our assignment, but nothing else. I've heard the name Torchwood around here but I never had an assignment related to you."

"Seems highly inefficient. But I wouldn't expect better from UNIT."

"That's how my current job works as well," she said sounding slightly insulted, "I did get to the weevil before you did. How fast did you get to the building when you found out about the weevil?"

"As soon as I got news of the weevil."

"Exactly, you left when your people recognized a weevil; I left when we heard of a burglary and trespassing. Say what you may but I'm effective." She loved proving her point.

"And harsh, what did you do with the weevil?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"Because getting it was _my _job." And Jack did not want to be seen as ineffective in anything he does.

"My boss asked for the weevil and I got it. I don't ask for anything else."

"Oh, so you're someone's bitch."

"No, I have a job; I get it done." Jack was starting to show more spunk than she did. But of course he had tons to spare. "People hire me because I'm good."

"Well, I'm better."

"Maybe at falling off of buildings. How exactly did you do that?"

"That's a secret for next time." Jack had many secrets he was going to keep hidden, and he hated it when his power was found out.

"You're assuming there will be a next time. Are you afraid to talk cos you think I'll tell someone?" Honestly, that stunt was what Emma really wanted to know about, because if he had any more tricks up his sleeve he might become her next assignment.

Jack got up from his ready to end this conversation soon. "If I was afraid of you telling then I wouldn't have told you anything."

"Then why did you?"

"Did you enjoy your drink?" Jack could always rely on Retcon.

Emma reached under the table and took out a full martini glass. "_This _one or the one I drank." She wasn't going to let a simple drink get her.

Jack gave a half-smile. He was impressed, almost. Retcon may not have worked but he wasn't done. He pulled out a card from his coat pocket and said, "Here's my card, call me if you need help on another one of your jobs."

She took it and looked at the number in the middle of the card but saw no name. When she lifted her head she saw the back of Jack exiting the bar.

XXX

The Torchwood team was busy working at their own spaces, and Jack was mulling over how great Ianto's ass looked in those pants he was wearing when he heard his name.

"Jack." It was Owen's voice.

He walked to where Owen was who was looking over some reports. "Yeah?"

"Look at the results of this tox screen."

Jack took the paper Owen held out and asked, "What is it?"

"It's from the remains we collected the other night. It contains amoxitin."

"Amoxitin? What are the bP levels?"

"Above 50%. What does that mean?"

"It means it's a Grendal."

Tosh scooted in her chair over to Owen's side. "Did you just say Grendal? What is that?"

Jack answered, "They're a humanoid species, they sort of have a gelatinous structure and their blood contains electrical charges."

"Wait, so that's their readings fluctuated," Tosh replied as she figured it out.

"Yeah. They're harmless though. They don't have any interest in human beings."

"But we still don't know where it is," Owen pointed out. It was one more thing they would have to figure out.

XXX

Emma sat in front of her computer at her UNIT office doing her normal reports. After turning her head around to see what everyone else was doing she decided to use the UNIT database to look up her newly discovered information. If there was anything about aliens, UNIT would know. She first tried 'Captain Jack Harkness' but all of his information was under Torchwood. When she searched 'Torchwood' she only got as far to know that it was classified under Sector G. At that time, Henry walked in looking quite beat up with cuts and bruises.

"Oh, that looks painful, did you have a hard time collecting?"

"Don't gloat just because you're the best bounty hunter," he remarked while wincing.

"I'm not gloating, I really care."

"Ugh, it was this big ugly thing. It better be worth something for what I went through."

"I'm sure it's the most important alien we'll ever encounter and then maybe you'll be promoted to a better job," she joked.

"Oh how we dream."

"So what are they doing with it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your alien you collected, or any alien. What are they doing with it?"

"I don't know, doesn't Investigative Ops deal with them once our job is done?"

"Yeah, but you don't know what they actually do?"

"No." Henry's voice didn't seem to carry much interest with what Emma was talking about, and that seemed to irk her for some reason.

"Well, haven't you ever _wondered _what they do?"

"They don't pay us for wondering."

"Yeah." He was right, and she knew it. She wasn't getting paid for wondering, her paycheck was coming for one reason. But she wiped it out of her mind, there were other things occupying it for the time being. "Hey Henry, what do you know about Torchwood?"

"Hmm, sounds familiar, but I don't know. Why?"

"No reason, it's just that I looked it up and the database said it's classified under Sector G."

"Sector G?"

"Yeah, what do you know about things in Sector G?"

"I know it means that we're not supposed to know anything that's in it."

Emma was certainly going to find out more, whether she was supposed to or not. She never usually did anything against her work but she also didn't usually let things go easily and there was something about Jack that kept her wondering about him. Maybe it was his chin or possibly just his mysterious air he had whenever she saw him. Either way, she knew she would get what she wanted.

Another co-worker came up to say, "Emma, Danny wants to see you in his office."

"Oh o.k. thanks." She left to go to see her superior hoping the matter would be nothing important or rather nothing bad. She knocked and entered his office saluting until he gestured to stand down.

"Have you finished your identification files?" Danny asked as she took her seat.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, you have another assignment. But this one will be different than your usual ones."

"Oh? How so, Sir?"

"We're sending you undercover."

"Undercover, Sir?"

Danny handed her a file containing all the information on her assignment. Unfortunately it actually contained little information which was why she was given this new task. "We call him Suspect Prime, came under our radar, a few weeks ago. You have to investigate him, assess if he's worth bringing in or if he's nothing worth our time. If he's valuable, detain and collect like always."

She opened the file to take a cursory glance and wondered why things were going so differently this time. "If I may ask, Sir; why can't I collect him now so we can investigate him here, Sir?"

Leaning back in his chair he answered, "Parliament thinks we've had too many casualties from our failed collections and believes we should put more… effort in data research. You have one month to watch him so you won't have to come in daily but you will have to send in bi-weekly reports."

"Understood, thank you, Sir." She stood up and saluted, and then left to her next task on hand.

XXX

In the deep nighttime, the street was nearly empty save for the parked cars. Emma was sneakily following behind Suspect Prime, who was lurking in the dark shadows. She kept her distance but Suspect Prime was being equally on guard that she couldn't get a good enough look at him. At that same time Jack was in his office looking at his computer where there was a flashing dot indicating the GPS tracker he had in the card he gave Emma was moving. He rose from his seat and left to find her.

Emma was still carefully following Suspect Prime. She had yet to determine if he was a dangerous threat. She needed to find its hiding place and if she was lucky, he would lead her right to it. But soon Jack drove up in his car and the simple sound of it spooked Suspect Prime. He started to run causing Emma to go after him and at that sight Jack got out of his car to go after the both of them. If Emma couldn't follow Suspect Prime she had to get a tracker on him and not lose this case, but Captain Jack just kept popping up.

She caught up to Suspect Prime to which she received a hard punch in the stomach and a fall to the ground. Suspect Prime ran off and Jack ran up to her giving her a hand which was _not_ what she wanted at this time.

"You again?"

"We have to stop running into each other like this."

Emma did not feel like dealing with him and his dashing charm at that moment. "How did you even know I was here?"

"It's part of the job."

"Any more and your job will be the cause of my unemployment." Emma spotted some odd object on the ground that fell off of Suspect Prime. It was shaped like a small octahedron but with many little intricate parts. She sneakily took it and placed it in her pocket when Jack looked the other way. "If you could move, please; I have to finish my job." She had already started walking and he wasn't letting a foot of space between them.

"And what's your job this time?"

"What are you PETA for aliens? I won't kill it if that's what you're interested in."

"Come on, we can take my car; it's faster."

She glanced in the direction of her car that had the name UNIT on the side of it. She couldn't have Jack seeing it but she couldn't just let Suspect Prime get away. She sighed, "Fine, hurry." and turned around to walk to his car.

Jack opened his door and started the car slightly surprised she agreed so quickly. He didn't even have to pull out his best smile. "No opposition? You're usually a lot of lip. Actually, that one time you were a _lot_ of lip," He said while smiling.

"Just go." Of all times she wanted Jack to pop up, he kept coming when she had something to hide.

They drove only a few blocks and when he was in sight, both jumped out of the car to run after him. Jack tackled him and they rolled on the ground until Suspect Prime threw Jack to the side and attacked Emma. He had one hand holding on her neck, as she wriggled to free its grasp. Just as Jack was getting up from his hit, Suspect Prime raised one arm, revealing a huge claw ready to strike. But right as he was about to pound Emma, Jack lunged at Suspect Prime knocking him off of her. As they rolled Jack was stabbed with the sharp claw right in his abdomen allowing Suspect Prime to get up. Emma, acting quickly, grabbed Suspect Prime's ankle but he pried it free just after Emma stuck the tracker on him. She rushed to Jack in time to see him dead and bleeding out.

"Oh, my gosh," she said feeling shocked.

Jack gasped back to life to see Emma over him with a horrified face.

"OH MY GOSH!" she yelled, "What the hell? W-what just happened?"

Jack started to recover and now had to calm her down. It was much easier to hide his secret from people when they didn't see him die and recover with their own eyes. He saw her bloody shirt and decided to deal with that first. "Get up, let's get to the car. You're hurt."

"And you were dead!" She couldn't believe he was actually talking about anything else.

"Yes, but you're also badly hurt." He helped her up and got her to the car. When he lifted her shirt he could see the open gash on her right side. "We need to apply pressure." He looked around the car but the first-aid kit was gone. Owen was supposed to refill the supplies and put it back; Jack would have to remind Owen the next time he saw him.

"Here, let me." Emma took off her jacket and used it as a bandage.

The wound was serious and the chance of infection was high. Both knew it needed to be taken care of properly.

"I need to fix you up. I have more supplies at the Hub."

"The Hub?"

"It's… our office." This mission to find out more about her was revealing more and more about him.

"Shouldn't you be more cautious on who you let in then?" This night was becoming weirder than she had expected, and in her line of work she had high expectations.

"You need help." She was right but so was he. Jack looked at her and thought it over; he decided to take the risk.

Emma looked back at him and knew to go with it. "Take me there."

He helped her get settled in the car and drove off. Like everyone else who first saw the great Torchwood central, she was expecting more than the Roald Dahl Plass; and she got just that once the doors rolled open. This 'office' was definitely the most unconventional she had ever seen. Once she was on the examining table, Jack found where Owen kept everything. She took off her shirt and let him bandage her wound; leaving an awkward space for odd small talk.

"So this is your office?" she asked in a cool tone. She really was impressed by it, and she wasn't going to let him know and get all conceited on her. But she was more impressed that he brought her here; Emma would never bring anyone to UNIT and her office space looked like she sold paper. In fact no one would know she worked with aliens unless they saw the hidden rooms full of alien equipment. So why would Jack bring her here to see all of this? She didn't know what Sector G meant and yet she was right in the middle of it.

"Yes, it's where we work." As he put up the gauze and disinfectant, he caught Emma constantly looking around to see everything. He grabbed a spare shirt to give to her and took her bloody clothes.

"It's… nifty," she said quite calm and collected while carefully putting on the shirt.

"Nifty?" That was one adjective he was not expecting to hear. He rather enjoyed the amazed reactions.

"It's interesting I'll admit. That rift manipulator is quite the beauty." she said, verifying that she really was impressed by it. There was technology she had never seen. And she really wanted to see it all; she especially wanted to know more about Jack. "Are you going to talk about what happened?"

"I think you saw what happened."

She looked in his eyes to make sure he wouldn't lie, but Jack had no intention to. "You died."

"Yes."

"And you came back." They kept looking and he didn't say anything on the contrary. "So that's it? You can die and come back?"

"Yep."

She leaned forward and asked, "How exactly did you that?"

Jack leaned into her ear and whispered, "It's private." He really enjoyed pasting on his cocky smile and seeing her defeated face. But it was only a small victory. "What about you?"

"What about me?" She hadn't planned on talking about herself again.

"Who do you work for?"

Jack wasn't going to let it go, but she discovered his secret, he should be able to know hers. She paused and eventually said, "I'm a hunter, my boss is a private collector of creatures and alien technology. And he hired us to do it for him." Emma knew the best lies were the simple ones.

"You were with UNIT and you left to be a head-hunter for a random person who likes aliens?"

"It pays well." Her face was frozen like stone, her best straight face.

"A whole rift in time and space that lets in things out of this world, and all you care about is the money?"

"You have the power of immortality and all you ever think about is sex," she replied as rebuttal. She had him there and he knew it.

He walked up close to her and had his face right up to hers. "Don't say it's not on your mind as well," he said with his sexy smirk.

"Aren't relations in the office space frowned upon?"

"You don't work here."

"That's true."

They stayed there like that waiting for the other one to fold. Unfortunately, both were intent on winning.

XXX

The next day, everybody came into work at Torchwood. Ianto came in early as always to clean and make coffee the way they all liked it. Tosh came a little earlier that usual, to finish up some paperwork. While doing her normal routine she checked the CCTV footage and saw Jack and a girl in the Hub late at night, alone. Ianto was walking over with a cup of coffee and she closed it on her computer as quick as possible.

"Here you go, Tosh."

"Thanks Ianto." Tosh watched as he walked away to see when she could look at it again. She wouldn't keep it a secret, but she was the first to see it so she had to tell Jack first before anyone else. She walked to his office and knocked to go in.

"Jack, I just looked at the CCTV footage of last night and I saw you…. with a woman. Who did you bring here?"

"Her name is Emma Langdon."

"But why did you bring her here?"

"She was hurt." Before she could start up again on their policies he explained, "Don't worry, she's not just anyone, she knows what we do." He pulled up her file on his computer and gestured Tosh to come to see.

"It says she trained and worked at UNIT. So what does she do now?"

"She hunts things alien-related."

Tosh wasn't really seeing where he was going with this. "So what… do you want to recruit her or something?"

"Maybe."

"Jack, we're not exactly hiring."

"I think she would be useful." And Jack saw something in her he couldn't quite place; something that made him want to find out.

Tosh didn't like what Jack considered 'useful.' "Jack, did you shag her?" she asked with a great amount of incredulity.

"Hey, what makes you think that was part of my decision?" He tried his best to sound insulted, but he couldn't very well day 'no.'

"Have you made an official decision?"

XXX

It was the end of the day, and the bulk of the work was done. Jack and Ianto were staying late. They had the whole place to themselves and Ianto was waiting to see if Jack was in the mood. But Jack was in his office for a long time now.

"Ianto."

"Yes, Sir," he answered as he came in.

"Have you finished the files on the sub-ethereal resonator?" Jack leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head. Ianto knew that meant Jack something in particular on his mind.

"Yes, but I need Tosh's report of her recalibration of its frequency performance."

"You can wait until tomorrow to do it."

Jack was right, he could wait; but there was always work to be done and Ianto liked it when it was all quiet and he would work alone without any disturbances. "That's quite alright Sir, there's quite a lot of paperwork left."

"Look, it's late. We can go and get something to eat." Jack said it with confidence in his voice. But truthfully, they spent most of their time together at Torchwood, and being seen together outside felt new to the both of them.

This caught Ianto by surprise. "Go out… to eat?"

Jack loved that doe-eyed look on Ianto's face. "Yeah, I know a place that stays open real late." He got up, and walked toward Ianto.

"Just us two…out together…? O.k." he said reluctantly, but happily; hiding it as best he could. Jack can get cocky very easily.

"Yeah, let's go," he said while grabbing his coat.

They took the lift up to the ground to where it was dark and just about no one around. They walked away together, not one of them paying more careful attention of Emma who was hiding away behind a pillar. She waited until they were far away from sight to come out and then made her way into the Hub using the exact same way Jack had when he brought her there. She was sure that it was empty, but Emma moved carefully and quickly about the Hub making sure to look in every corner and leave nothing of her presence there. When she found her way to Jack's office she immediately went after the computer and accessed the employee files. Captain Jack was proving to be more of a mystery than she had expected and she needed to know more. She found his folder and browsed through the first page of information.

"… Capt. Jack Harkness… Cardiff… Official employee… 1899." She was astounded by what she saw and even more surprised when she realized just how many files there were on Jack; and she was able to utter, "I guess you are older than you look."

But Emma couldn't risk reading everything there; she pulled out her USB and downloaded all of the files. Once finished she left putting much effort into leaving not a single trace.

XXX

Another early day at Torchwood, Jack and Ianto sharing glances from what happened the night before, and the strong smell of coffee because when Ianto was in a good mood he loved to make extra; although it was a bit of a tell to everyone else in Torchwood.

Jack checked his computer and received an infiltration alert of the security system. He looked into the CCTV footage and saw Emma breaking and entering. Another topic to talk over with Tosh that he didn't want to deal with just yet.

"Ianto," Jack called

"Yes, Sir," he answered when he came to the door.

"Has Tosh come in, since last night?"

Ianto rolled his eyes up for a split second and replied, "No, she hasn't reported for work yet. Do you need something done; I could do it, Sir."

"No thanks, that's o.k." Jack realized what he said and put in, "Well, for now, I might need you to time something for me later," and added his classic famous sexy smile.

Ianto put on his spelled smile and replied, "I'll be waiting for your orders."

Jack took this opportunity and deleted the CCTV footage of Emma. He figured it would be easier to say he accidentally made a technical mistake, than have Tosh find out…again.

XXX

Busy at work, Ellie was working in the lab until her friend Emma came in needing something like she always did.

"Ellie, my good mate, I need a favor."

"Don't you always." She stopped believing Emma would come down just to day 'hi' once she was transferred to Research and Emma realized just how good her friend was at technology.

"Oi, that's not true."

"You only call me your 'good mate' when you need something," she argued.

"I say it, because it's true. But I do need something." Emma took out the object she collected off of Suspect Prime. "I need to know what this is."

"What for, this time?"

"It's part of my task. I have to track something called Suspect Prime, and this fell off."

"And you don't feel like filling out the proper forms," she admitted with futility.

"See, you are my good mate, you know what I want before I have to say it."

Ellie placed it in the Tech Scanner and remarked, "It certainly looks odd." She typed away at the computer controls and made a sort of frown on her face.

"What do you think it is?"

Ellie kept typing when she replied, "I'm not sure…Are you sure it came off of this Suspect Prime thingy?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It fell off when we fought him."

"We?"

A small alarm went off in Emma's head. "Yeah, Suspect Prime and I fought."

"But you said, 'we fought him.'"

"I meant me and the target." At least verbal mishaps were easy to cover up.

"Well, whatever it is, I can't read it."

"I mean, I can't read it, not any part of it. It won't let me." She showed Emma the screen that read 'Not Detectable' and picked up the object playing with it in her hands. "It could be something not of this world or some rock-and-roll paraphernalia that the machine's not meant to detect…Ow take it. It's hot." She handed it to Emma who took it in her hand.

"Ohh, it is." Then Emma fell into a quick trance and saw a sudden flash of white light for a fraction of a second. And just as fast as she fell into the trance she fell right out.

"Emma…Emma, over here." her friend called in slight concern.

"What? Yeah, sorry. Uh, thanks for all your help." She stuffed it back in her pocket and added in, "Can we keep this between us now?"

"You know, you're going to have to turn that in eventually, it's called following the rules. It's part of our job, they made us sign an loads of contracts, remember that?" Even in her pleading, reminding she could guess what Emma would say next.

"Oh, why follow the rules when I have you?" she added with a smile saying she knew Ellie wouldn't put up a fight.

"If it's part of your assignment, why don't you just turn it in?"

"There's just a problem or two with…how I acquired it." Emma already handled the side with Jack but she had yet to figure out how to cover it from her job.

"How many more times am I going to have to save your ass?"

Emma was getting ready to leave but felt like reminding her friend why she was so effective. "Don't worry, you can stop when you feel like telling your husband about that one really drunk night."

In a very defensive voice Ellie protested, "Hey, anyone could have made the same mistake; our names are very similar and tequila goes straight to my head."

"I'm not the one you have to explain it to."

"You're swine."

"Love you too," she yelled back as she walked away.

XXX

Emma was handling the object in her hands looking at the little nooks and crannies of it, wondering what it meant or was. She walked in the hallway to her flat, and unlocked the door to see the Captain Jack Harkness sitting in her room chair and drinking a glass of scotch.

She quieted the sound of being startled in her voice before saying, "Jack, what are you doing here."

He took a sip and said, "It's seems we're both good at breaking and entering."

She wasn't very surprised at this; she knew she was careful but somehow she knew Jack would find out. "Fine, you caught me. What are you going to do about it?"

"Offer you a job." He didn't see it on her face but he could feel she wasn't expecting _that_.

"I'd like to see what you'd do if I stole your car."

"I'm serious." He was.

Giving it actual thought she asked, "What makes you think I would want to join Torchwood?"

Standing up now he said, "Because if you stole what I think you stole, then you read my personal file."

He was right. She had read it all but knew she didn't get everything. She wanted to know more, more about what happened, more on why it happened. Captain Jack kept getting more and more interesting and she found herself being drawn into his charm. She hadn't thought about it but joining Torchwood would be the best method. "Yes, but I do have a day job."

"Fine, but part-time workers don't get as many benefits." He put on a blatant smirk and eyed the bedroom.

"Come off it already, you're not going to get me in bed that easily." She really didn't want it to be that easy; he was just so damn dashing.

"Oh yeah, if I remember correctly it takes four drinks."

Insulted but not denying she yelled, "Oi!"

He walked up close with his hands in his pockets. "Are you sure you don't feel like it? We could call it orientation. I could make it part of you job description."

"Then you're going to have to pay me a whole lot more."

XXX

Jack felt a little guilty not announcing this to the rest of the team but he and Emma were already walking to the entrance.

"Can we take that fun little lift this time?"

"I love the fun route."

Both stepped onto the stone and it descended with a small shake that caused Emma to grab his arm, which only gave Jack another reason to smile on the inside. They landed and Jack told her to stay behind the column first and let him do the proper introductions.

"Everyone I have someone for you to meet."

"Let me guess another alien that's good in bed or a new dog," Owen called out from the morgue.

Gwen walked up next to Tosh on her computer. "Jack, what's going on?"

"I've brought in someone new, that I want you all to meet. Everyone this is Emma Langdon." She came out and gave a little wave by her side.

"By 'someone new', you mean you made a decision?" Tosh asked knowing only he and Tosh knew.

"Yes," he confirmed and led Emma around the room, "This is Tosh, our brilliant whiz; handles all of our technical needs."

"Hi there." Tosh waved.

"Hello," she replied back.

Pointing toward the morgue Jack introduced, "Dr. Owen Harper. Our medical advisor."

"Medical professor and currently busy," he corrected in the annoyed tone that always seemed to be somewhere in his voice whether he wanted it to or not.

"Don't mind him. You get used to it. Gwen Cooper," she said while holding out a hand to shake.

"Hi, Emma Langdon."

Jack looked around wondering where Ianto was. "Where is that Ianto?"

"He's out checking some lead on that Grendal we missed last week," Gwen answered.

"A what?" Emma asked.

"A Grendal." She repeated. At that Emma remembered the file labeled Grendal.

"We'll wait until he gets back. I'll introduce you two. Gwen, show her around and get her started." He smacked her butt and walked away to his office.

"You'll have to get used to that too," Tosh remarked.

"Already am," she said thinking the full thought in her head.

Gwen and Emma were laughing about how Jack gets that little wrinkle when he does his smug face when Ianto came in and went straight to Jack's office. Gwen saw Ianto walk by and reminded her Jack wanted to introduce them, but when Emma walked in she caught the two of them snogging and held a shocked look on her face. One she didn't try to hide.

"Jack, what's going on?"

Before fully registering her reaction he said, "Emma there you are, this is Ianto."

"Were you two just…?"

Jack and Ianto both realized the room suddenly had an awkward air. "Ianto could you – "

"I'll go do some filing Sir."

"Jack…are you gay?"

"I don't think that's the right term."

Speaking in a much more fiery tone, she said, "Then what the hell was that?"

"Honestly 51st century pheromones." That only gave a look of more disbelief to Emma. "Well it worked on you."

Tired of being confused, she asked, "What? Jack I thought that you…that, that…"

"That…we were…?" He was reading her face and seeing more than he thought was there.

"No, I didn't think we…well I thought that we had…I at least thought you were straight. I mean, what are you?"

"I love everything," He said this with great sincerity.

"Thing?"

"We both know there are more species out there."

Emma couldn't believe this. The mystery was intriguing but this was starting to be more than she could handle. "You've…been with them?"

"Well…" There didn't seem to be a right response that Emma would like.

"Are you and Ianto…together?"

"Yes."

"Wait, so you were with him while you shagged me? You cheated on him with me?"

"Like I said, I love everything." Jack wasn't using it as an excuse, he was being truthful. He knew the truth didn't need to always come out so bluntly, but at that time the truth was the only thing he could say.

"Why didn't I know about…all of this or any of this?"

"I didn't think I was obligated to. Were we – "

And quickly she realized how much she didn't like the truth and needed to get out of there. "You're right, you weren't obligated." She started to turn away.

"Emma – "

"What?" she said with a tone that came out harsher than she had intended but it came out anyway.

"Do you still want to be a part of Torchwood?"

She paused, thinking about what she got herself into. "Yes, I just don't think I can handle you right now." And she left making sure not to turn around and look him in the eye even though she knew he was looking.

XXX

Ianto made a special cup of coffee and got a nice cup and saucer. Then he walked to the room where Emma sat alone and knocked twice.

"Can I come in?"

There wasn't one particular person she wanted to talk to but she figured she might as well speak to the one person she has yet to meet. "Hi, it's you."

"I made you some coffee." He placed it on the table and took a seat.

"Thank you." That was all she could really say, or wanted to say.

"Jack told me what happened."

"Maybe he could tell me, too. Cos I have never been more confused."

"Yeah, he has a way of complicating things, being here complicates things." Everyone there always dealt with the complications, but for some reason dealing with something that the rest of the world dealt with as well seemed a whole lot more complicated with them.

"Yeah, I picked up on that." She took a sip of the coffee and was actually more grateful for caffeine than she had ever been.

"I came to talk to you and tell you that Jack's a good man." Ianto wasn't sure what was going through her head after all this, but he felt he needed to come and clear up some things, even if they weren't so clear.

"Do you love him?"

"Why?"

"Cos, I don't understand it. I mean, how are you with him? Is it an open relationship? I just…"

"No we're just… He has a past." Ianto didn't like thinking about Jack's past or future for that matter. "And he just likes snogging everything he sees." He laughed little hoping it would hide what was coming out.

She chuckled at that but only for a second. "Well, where I come from it's called cheating…and being gay."

"Maybe you should see things the say we do." He meant it, and Emma saw it in his eyes.

She looked down at her shoes holding her cup of coffee. "It's difficult doing anything around him. He's so…"

Ianto stared off a bit as well. "Amazing," he finished.

"I can't argue with that." She really couldn't but she wished she could because him being amazing just made everything harder.

"He loves me and I know that. He loves all of us." Emma looked in his eyes and felt somewhat happy that Ianto sincerely felt that, she could see how confusing it was for him and she was the closest to understanding how confusing it felt. And when he said that she felt all…nostalgic.

"He really is great. He'd die for us."

"That doesn't count. I'd die for you if I knew I was coming back." She felt a smile over her face and saw one on Ianto as well.

"But he's really amazing. Sometimes too amazing for one person. He's too much for this world."

"You really think that?"

"Yes." He really did. "How did he make you feel when you were with him?"

He was right. "You're right. He's good at everything he does. _Everything_."

"Did you two ever…?" Ianto almost didn't want to ask this question.

"No we weren't involved like that." Ianto gave her a glare and she folded. "O.k. just once, but we met in a bar and we were both drunk."

Giving it some thought he said, "Are you sure he was drunk too?"

She figured out how sober he was that night and how much he really liked to drink. "Bloody bastard."

"So if you weren't in bed most of the time what did you do?" Ianto was starting to become curious.

"Oh, you know chasing weevils, fighting aliens, lots of running. The normal dates."

"Ah, of course." That small joke felt good to make, both of them were feeling a bit better.

"But I don't know…it's like we were both…lost or something. And we just helped each other. He showed me the Hub, invited me to join, it just fit."

"He showed you the around and you guys just…talked?" This didn't sound like the normal Jack that everyone knew him as; this was sounding like the kind of Jack that Ianto thought only _he_ knew. Ianto had become somewhat accustomed to how much Jack liked sex, but he always took comfort in knowing there were certain things that Jack only liked with Ianto.

"Yeah," she answered innocently.

"And…you only shagged once?"

"Yeah," she tried saying as nonchalantly as she had before until Ianto started starting at her incredulously. "O.k. well, it's not like I didn't want to, we just too busy doing other things. It's not like Jack made it easy to stay out of bed."

"Another thing he's great at doing." And Ianto wanted sex to be the only thing Jack shared with someone else. Ianto didn't like Jack sharing _anything_ with others but he could always tell himself that was the kind of person Jack was. But now, he was feeling something, something close to jealousy but arising from confusion. It seemed Jack liked doing some things with people other than Ianto.

Emma looked in Ianto's eyes and stopped feeling upset about starting to fall for Jack, but rather guilty. She thought she was hurt when she and Jack had only known each other for a short time. And now she realized this Ianto must have felt even worse. "Yeah, but he's not perfect you know."

"He may not be perfect but he's out of this world."

"You make it seem like he's so incredible."

"He _is_ incredible." And Ianto meant it, a lot.

"Yeah, but you make it sound like he's so great that you're …privileged to love him and that you're lucky he loves you amongst his others." She was starting to see just how much Ianto loved him, which only confused her because she couldn't see how much Jack loved him back.

"Sometimes he's more than enough for one person." Ianto almost wished that wasn't true, but wasn't that part of why he loved Jack so much?

"You know you're worth having someone love you with all they have, amazing powers or not."

Ianto looked at her and suddenly felt he needed to leave. She was starting to make too much sense, sense that he never really thought about. He got up and left the room and found himself walking toward Jack's office. Jack looked up from the papers he was reading and smiled a 'Hey' telling him to come in.

"So I met Emma, she's seems excited to be working here." Sarcasm is always an easy escape.

"Give her time, you'll warm up to her." Jack had a feeling it would take a lot of time.

"I don't think that's the problem." In fact, he wasn't really sure what _was_ the problem.

"Is there a problem?" Hearing Ianto's tone made him think that maybe there were more problems than he had thought.

"No, no," he replied a bit too quickly hoping it would compensate for the lack of confidence he suddenly heard in his voice. "We just talked."

"You talked? and…"

"She told me about you two."

"What did she say?" Jack didn't think he had something to had, but it sounded like Ianto thought he did.

"She just told me about what you did…together." As soon as he said 'together' he wanted to take it back. "She said you showed the Hub, fought some aliens, and that she can't hold her liquor very well."

"What? Are you jealous?"

"No, of course not, she said you only shagged once." Ianto wanted to enjoy that fact, that they had one casual night that didn't mean anything. That would have been much better that if they were involved. One night was better than multiple. But for some reason he didn't. For some reason, having one meaningless night was worse because then it meant that maybe everything else between them meant something. Ianto took a seat at the edge of Jack's desk and asked, "What did you do the other times?"

"What we do best."

"So you really just talked, fought aliens, and offered her a job?"

Jack realized how crazy that sounded. Everyone who was a part of Torchwood was chosen with great care and here he was inviting someone who had another job. "She's good. She'll make a nice ally and she's perfect for Torchwood." She was also something else Jack couldn't figure out. And that just made him want to know even more.

Maybe she was good for Torchwood, but Ianto was worried she might be better than him. "I hope so."

Jack was getting tired, he didn't want to work anymore and Ianto was looking sexy. "Let's stop talking, Ianto. And get that shirt off." Jack started unbuttoning his shirt.

Ianto wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep with him or be alone, but he thought he might feel better with Jack's touch and to that replied, "Much obliged, Sir."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: This is set after Season One in place of Season Two so all characters are there. I plan to make this a long series and will continue the story to a Doctor Who crossover later on so please continue reading and all comments are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Part 2: Validation.

It was Emma's first day as an official Torchwood employee. She told Jack straight out that she would go about business professionally, and not let it (whatever 'it' was) get in the way of work. The air between them was like still waters with the sound of shadows lurking, and when Ianto was in the room it felt even more uncomfortable. Everyone sensed it, but of course they still did their jobs normally.

Tosh was worried Jack was making a mistake; he did so many things that didn't make any sense to anyone and there were some things that no one knew about him. And here was some new girl who caused more tension when everyone was in the same room. Gwen had sexual tension with Jack and, as much as she hated it, Owen as well. Who knew what this Emma would bring to Torchwood. But there wasn't much she could do, Jack was in charge and now she and Ianto had to deal with formalizing new employee records. Tosh was in the middle of coaching Emma on how to work with the Torchwood network. 

"So you see how you can open the APC driver…"

"Uh huh," Emma agrees as she listens.

"Here, you can go to the auxiliary bus driver; and find all the functions of the dimensional back-loop reader. Now each one will accept a unique interface-numeral that you can learn later on. But if you need to go back you can use – "

"The same basecode serials from the…composite processor, right?"

"I was going to show the Util-comm filter – "

"Oh, because then you don't have to reopen the transfer inter-lode," Emma figured out.

"Yeah," Tosh confirmed a little surprised that she didn't have to go through each serial. "Did you learn this at UNIT?"

"Well, a little," answered Emma, "I have a friend who's good at this stuff and she taught me how to work some of this. But you're really good, you know?"

"Oh, thanks," Tosh replied. She was so used to the simple thanks she got when she would do the hard part for everyone else.

"No, I mean it. I didn't even think of that. You know, if you connected the triple-end circuit-breaker to an Intrino enumerator system you could access the base functions – "

"Using the coded disc shortcuts," Tosh finished. "Yeah, I've been trying to implement this new software. But I'm still working on it."

"I could help you on it," Emma offered. She was looking for something to do that involved Jack as little as possible.

"Sure, thanks." Emma was being friendly, but Tosh wasn't best friends with her just yet. "So Jack told us, you worked with UNIT, and that you sort of went freelance."

"Uh, yeah." Emma was prepared with her cover story. It was short and simple. "I just hunted and tracked rift debris, basically the same things you lot do."

"So how do feel about Torchwood?" She wanted to breach the topics slowly.

"You mean Torchwood the institute or the members?" Emma could see the curiosity on Tosh's face.

"I don't mean to pry," Tosh started but Emma interjected.

"No, that's alright. I suppose it's startling to have a new person out of the blue and who then starts some problems with the boss." She was prepared for this too but that didn't mean she wanted to deal with it. "I didn't really mean to join, but Jack told me about Torchwood. I wasn't searching for a job, I just joined because…well…"

"Because of Jack?" Tosh guessed.

Emma started to feel embarrassed and was worried it was showing. She wasn't planning on talking about Jack but Tosh had this understanding face on and for some reason she kept on talking. "No, I mean…Well – "

"Don't worry, you're not alone."

"Wait, you?" Emma asked to see if Tosh was referring to herself.

"What? Oh no, no. Not me." Tosh would be mortified if she could add herself on Jack's long list, and what a _long _list that was. "I'm saying there are many people that find themselves…fancying Jack," Tosh said trying to put it lightly.

Emma gave a small chuckle and replied, "That's quite the understatement."

"You don't have to feel bad, if Jack doesn't make an innuendo in each sentence, he dies," Tosh joked.

"And by the time he comes back to life, he's already in bed," Emma said more robust than she had felt at the beginning of the day. They laughed at that both feeling more comfortable.

"But, honestly. What happened between you two?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Emma looked down trying to find what to say. "Can I ask you, does Jack bonk a lot of people?" Hearing herself she said, "Gosh, it sounds stupid just saying it, that's not what I meant."

"No, I know what you mean. It's hard to describe Jack, in human terms that is. It's not like he shags everything in sight, he just wants to…That didn't sound as well as I hoped. Look, he loves us all, he's really great."

"I know, I really know. It's just…I thought he fancied me, maybe," Emma admitted. Suddenly, she felt raw; she wasn't thinking about her work or lying, more truth was coming out than she had planned.

Tosh saw her face and started feeling empathetic; she saw something she could relate too and stopped thinking about if she was a mistake. "He probably did fancy you. It might seem weird but things are different here at Torchwood."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But at least you don't have to walk around here knowing everyone is making fun of you in their heads."

"Oh, we're not making fun of you. I'm certainly not," Tosh said sympathetically

"Thanks but I can tell no one wants to talk about the sexual tension that's in the air."

"That's been around long before you were here." Tosh said with a convincing smile.

Emma had to admit it. She's only been here for a short time but she wasn't oblivious. "I bet, what's wrong with you people? UNIT was so strict on employee relations. I can't imagine what would happen if you had an HR department," she said while laughing.

"Actually, they have them at the other Torchwoods, but they refuse to work with Jack!" They both burst out laughing.

"I'd make that my job here, if I hadn't already broken one of my own rules!" Emma and Tosh laughed even louder and Owen walked in and sat at his desk. They both felt better and didn't feel like talking anymore.

Owen started working on his computer and asked, "What are you hens clucking about now?"

Emma rolled her eyes and Tosh got back to work. "Here, let me help you download your information into the Torchwood database using your phone." Tosh got up from her seat and gestured for Emma to sit down. She was talking Emma through it, when Gwen walked in.

"O.k. now go to hyper-composite trace mode," directed Tosh.

Emma types on computer following Tosh's orders. "Is that right?"

"Yes, then open the one that says embedded transport configuration, and enter your SID numerals."

"O.k. now what?" she asked while typing on the computer.

"Now, you've got it," Tosh answered smiling.

"What's going on?" Gwen asked.

"I got it? I got it, I did it!" Emma exclaimed proudly.

Gwen still confused asked, "What? What did you get?"

"Tosh here just helped me configure my Bluetooth to the torchwood connection."

Over at his table, Owen continued looking at his computer when he said in a bored voice, "Yay, the new girl can work a computer. Call the press."

"Don't mock, Owen. You still run to Tosh, every time you get those pop-ups on laptop and can't get rid of them." Gwen pointed out.

All of a sudden the females were ganging up on him. "Hey, what I do with my personal laptop is my business," Owen defended dryly.

"I'm sure it is your own business, and we all know what you do in your free time Owen," Gwen remarked and then she said quite amused, "Sometimes you even do it in your work time." and she stifled a laugh.

Emma leaned in closer to Tosh and whispered, "Wow, you were right."

Then, a low beeping came from Tosh's computer and something popped up on the screen. Emma lifted from her seat and Tosh went to work attacking the keyboard. Emma watched her amazed at her speed and wondering what was going on. When she turned her head she saw Gwen and Ianto looking at another computer screen working intensely as well.

"We've got rift activity." Tosh said while still typing.

Jack walked out of his office ready to leave, everyone acknowledges he's there but still tracking the rift energy. "Come on people. Gwen, back-up," Jack ordered as he grabbed her jacket and threw it at her. "Emma come along and you can see how Torchwood works."

"My first field trip."

Jack started down the stairs followed by Gwen and Emma.

"I'll send you the coordinates as you drive," yelled Tosh as they walked away.

XXX

All three followed the activity to a house in a small neighborhood. It was fair and no one seemed to be inside. But the signs weren't coming from inside the house; Gwen looked at her hand-held and said that it in the backyard. They went around the house to the back, Jack taking the right route, Gwen and Emma going round left in the little passageway between houses. Emma had her gun in her hand ready to aim and fire. She searched the grounds in the same posed stance she was trained to use at UNIT. Gwen noticed, while looking at the hand-held and slowly making her way through the untamed lawn and grass.

"It's not a dangerous threat alert, you know." Gwen mentioned.

"Is that how you work? Wait for danger and then react?" Emma said while still navigating with her gun in hand.

"No, but not everything needs guns."

The two met Jack at the back. Jack and Gwen signaled that it was clear so far. All three went around the place. It wasn't very spacious but there was a lot of clutter and junk. Then they heard a large growl and they turned around. Gwen and Jack reached for their guns as they saw a bear standing up and roaring wildly. All three jumped on their toes and circled around the bear moving unsteadily. It wasn't as big as an adult-sized bear but large and overpowering nonetheless.

"Uh, Jack what exactly is Torchwood's policy on handling wildlife?" Emma asked frantically.

"What the hell is a bear doing here?" Gwen yelled. She was still reading the hand-held.

"Wait, wait." Jack lowered his gun slowly. There was something different with this bear. It just stood there kind of moving and swinging but not attacking. It stood straight up like a bi-ped. And its growl sounded different, not like a bear in attack but each growl was like a word.

Gwen heard the hand-held beep and started reading the rift level charts.

"Jack, what's going on? How is it standing like that?" Emma asked.

"This is it. This is what we're tracking," Gwen answered. She lowered her gun like Jack who was slowly approaching the bear with one hand outward like he was calming a dog.

Emma saw the two and slowly lowered her gun but was ready to grab it if necessary. "Wait, so we were tracking a bear?"

"It's not a bear, well not one from here that is," Jack answered. He went up to the bear that had started to quiet down and was on all fours now. "This is the alien."

"What?" asked Emma. She was having a hard time believing this.

"Rift particles and debris all over him, he fell through the rift. This is an alien bear," Gwen remarked.

Jack touched the bear, then it jumped up suddenly causing all of them to jump back. But soon it was down again and Jack started shushing it soothingly. To this the bear snuggled into a fetal position as Jack petted it. "There you go," he said to the bear. "He's just frazzled and actually he's a she."

"How do you know that?" Emma asked.

"I don't think we need to know Jack," Gwen interjected quickly.

"Jack, you're petting a bear," remarked Emma disbelievingly.

"There, she's all calm now." The bear was now still and quiet as if it were sleeping. It almost looked harmless, if it wasn't for its size. "Gwen, scan her and send the results back to Tosh, tell her and Owen to start bio-profiling the DNA. Tell them we'll be there soon with her." Gwen followed his instructions.

Emma saw Gwen working like normal and was starting to feel creeped out by seeing a small part of Jack's maternal side. "We're taking it back with us?"

"Yes, now help me get her in the SUV," Jack ordered.

About to make her way back to the SUV Emma asked, "Do you some kind of sedative?"

"No, we can lead her back, just help me." Still speaking to her, Jack helped the bear up and started walking in front. He wasn't quite talking but he had a kind of softness to his voice, and by the slightly puzzled look on Gwen's face, Emma could see she wasn't used to it as well. Jack gestured for Emma to come over. "Here, now put your hand right here, and just guide her with me."

Gwen finished and helped them get the bear in the SUV. They drove back to the Hub and performed the same procedure to get the bear into the vaults for holding.

XXX

The bear was detained in the vaults and the team had already done the basic identification tests. Everyone was settled into the conference room now to discuss.

"Tosh, talk to me," ordered Jack.

"It's DNA is of bear origin but its genetic make-up is far advanced," Tosh recited.

Owen started in, "Its anatomy is different than our bears, it can stand straight up because the orthopedics are more complex and more versatile. There's nothing dangerous in its DNA that would cause contamination to the public so it doesn't propose any serious threat. But its advanced bodily structure means it has the capacity to kill and could be harmful to humans."

"But I don't think that would be much of a problem since it was very friendly when Owen was examining her. She was actually quite fond of his rear bum," Ianto added.

"Hey, shut it, Tea Boy!" Owen shouted clearly not amused yet everyone else was lightly laughing.

Jack restored the order asking, "Have you determined its time period?"

"Not definitely, we ran the tests but the bear's rift energy levels were too high for conclusive results," Gwen answered.

At that Tosh pulled up the screens on the wall showing test results. Jack reviewed them while everyone wondered when he would turn around and talk.

"Those are high. It must have come from the Corag cluster meaning sometime in the 33rd century, which would be before the Arctic Blow. Wait, that's before the war."

"Jack, do you feel like talking to us?" Emma said breaking Jack from his recital of facts.

"This bear is an Al-Ursi Can. There's not an exact translation so they go by 'bear' with humans."

"They can understand you?" asked Emma not really believing it.

"Yes," Jack said as if her question made no sense. "They have their own language, that's how I was talking to it."

Gwen mentioned, "But you weren't talking, you were sort of…soothing it softly."

Ianto's eye shot up imagining Jack looking soothing. He snapped back at the conversation at hand quickly.

"I'm not fluent in their language, but they have this inner-mind that allows them to connect with beings. But you heard it talking. Those growls weren't normal. They were distinct, and sounded weird didn't they?"

Gwen turned to Emma and confirmed, "He's right, I heard it talking. It wasn't just growling."

"How do you know all this?" asked Emma.

"Spent some time with a tour guide who had this thing for animals. He had four arms but still couldn't – "

"Uh hmm." coughed Gwen.

"But what does this mean?" Ianto asked trying to keep Jack on track.

"It means good work. Ianto canvass the area and deal with the neighbors and do damage control. Tosh and Owen complete the bio-profiles, Gwen enter it in our monster archives. Back to work." Everyone got up from their seats to return to work, except for Emma who wasn't assigned a job.

"Jack, should I go deal with the bear?" Emma asked.

"Deal with it?" Jack responded turning around.

"After Tosh and Owen finish testing, of course. I should do something my first day of work."

"You can handle it?" Jack asked with a bit of confusion in his voice that sounded close to skepticism.

"Sure, do you have enough doses of barbiturates?"

Jack figured out what she meant and said, "What?"

"Do you guys hold any sodium pentobarbital?" Emma asked not realizing Jack's reaction.

Jack turned serious. "No," he said with a stern face. "I thought I made it clear. We don't randomly kill aliens here."

"I was just going to euthanize it. The alien's of no use to us," Emma defended.

"Look, I don't care what they taught you at UNIT. Here, we do things differently."

"You were the one who said that you do all this to prepare us, use things to our advantage, and keeping the alien would be a waste of time, money, and resources."

"_She_ is not some waste of space. She's someone lost from home who is very confused and afraid." Jack sighed and said, "Maybe it was a mistake hiring you."

Emma was getting heated up and said, "What? Now you want to fire me because I'm not some bear whisperer like you?"

"They're a compassionate species. And everything that comes through that rift is different. You can't treat them all the same. If you want to work here, you'll have to understand that."

"Are you saying I shouldn't be here?" Emma said, her voice had turned serious now as well.

"Maybe Torchwood isn't for you."

"You mean maybe it's getting crowded around here."

They were standing close to each other, both starting to become furious because they both could feel the big elephant in the room. Jack and Emma locked eyes in growing anger until it was broken by a voice.

"Emma." It was Gwen's voice. The two turned and saw her standing there; she came around the corner but neither had noticed when.

"Emma, I'd like to talk. Can you come help me with some things?"

Emma turned and looked at Jack again before replying, "Of course." She walked out of the room leaving Jack behind.

XXX

Gwen had brought Emma to the archives. They were standing next to filing cabinets, and Gwen opened a drawer revealing numerous files.

"Is everything all right between you and Jack?" Gwen asked concerned.

"I'd rather not talk about that. Do you need my help on some files or something?" Emma would rather work than discuss Jack.

"Whatever is going on between you cannot get in the way of work."

"I don't plan on it to do so. I apologize if there's been some…tension. I don't intend for it to interfere with work."

"That's good. But Jack is right. If you want to work here you have to realize it's not all work. Many times a lot of people get hurt, humans or aliens. And we have to deal with that. My first day here, we encountered an alien who needed sex to live – "

"Isn't that perfect, a sex alien comes to a place run by a sex alien," Emma scoffed.

"Jack is not a sex alien!" Gwen barked back.

"He can die and come back; that doesn't exactly sound human!"

"That's not the point," Gwen exclaimed. "We have to handle everything that comes through and then deal with the consequences. And many times it requires some compassion. My first day, I had to help a poor girl trapped in her own body. Look, Jack is a person, and so is that bear. They may be aliens but they're people. That bear could have a family, and now's it's lost in a world it doesn't know. It's our job to fix it." Gwen's voice was calmer now with intent.

Gwen took out a full folder and handed it to Emma.

"What is this?" she asked taking it.

"Read it. We keep everything in here. All of our records. You might like to read some things."

Gwen left Emma to her reading who started looking through the files. Emma finished the file Gwen gave her and looked through the file cabinet. There were files on everything, _everyone_. There were so many. She looked and found an old one from when Jack had a different team. It had that name, the one she saw when she stole their files before. It said 'Alex Young' but now there was so much information that she didn't know. She read it all, read what he did and soon she felt some kind of affinity to Jack.

She stayed down there for some time now, just reading. Mostly reading about Jack, reading what she didn't know already. There were all these detailed files about everyone on the team. And Jack was right; they were certainly different than UNIT, much more different. Now, she realized what Jack meant. She packed up all of the files and placed them back as they were, and went down to the vaults to see the bear.

XXX

The bear was lying down but awake. Emma took a chair and sat down in front of the protective screen, tentatively.

"Um, Hello? I don't suppose you understand English. But I guess I'll just talk."

The bear let out a smooth growl and waved its right paw. Emma chuckled.

"I don't know what I'm doing down here. I just felt that I needed to come down here. I sort of wanted to euthanize you earlier. Sorry about that. I'm sort of new to this. I mean I'm used to this, just not _this_. Things here are so different. I just keep feeling so lost. But I guess you feel more lost than I do; I mean look at you caught up in a rift and you land here. If anyone else found you, you'd be dead in a second. Nice world we live in, eh? We're not mean, not really. We're all just…scared, worried, confused. We'd rather take the offense than wait for the defense. That's how we end up with people like me…ready to kill. That's how we end up with casualties, tragedies."

The bear rose up and started walking, but not very much in the small space of the vault. She went up to the protective screen and started speaking softly, in low groans that sounded sympathetic and sensitive. Emma rose from her seat and went up to her. She looked in her face and then just felt…understood and forgiven.

"You really are friendly, you know that? You're something special."

The bear went back to her previous spot and laid down again. Emma put her hand on the glass for a moment and then left to go back up to where everyone else was. At that moment, Jack minimized the screen on his computer of the camera watching over the vaults.

XXX

It was the end of the day; everyone was tired of working, but that didn't necessarily mean they stopped working. Owen wanted to finish up and leave as soon as he could; he hated doing the administrative work, now since Ianto wasn't at his beck and call. Although he wasn't sure if Ianto was really at his beck and call, he just seemed to do everything whether he was asked or not.

Tosh was basically finished, she always worked efficiently. Even if she had a lot left, she could always work wherever she went as long as she had her laptop. But she could wait and leave when Owen was done.

"Ugh, where's Tea Boy?" groaned Owen.

"Why?" asked Tosh.

"If he feels like getting off of Jack anytime soon, he could do some info processing," he complained.

"I think Ianto's busy with Welsh Mountain."

"I think you mean Jack Mountain." Owen never failed at his quips.

"If you want to go, you can leave it for the morning; I can help you on it," offered Tosh with a smile. "We're all tired, I'm sure you feel like going out for a drink. Eh, Owen?"

He turned to glance at Tosh and answered, "I actually feel more like eating out."

"Oh?" asked Tosh with the sound of interest lingering behind. "Did you have any ideas where to go?"

"Nah, I'm just going to get some takeaway and go home." He started closing up his work, not noticing Tosh turning back to her computer looking a little dejected. "Thanks for the offer, Tosh. I'm gonna turn in."

As Owen left, Emma walked by and stopped at Tosh's desk.

"Want a biscuit?" Emma held out a plate with biscuits and Tosh gave her a puzzled look.

"What?"

"You know he's not someone _I _would fancy, but I can see how his moodiness can be attractive." Emma broke the ice quickly, it seemed to compensate for Tosh's reluctance.

"What are you talking about?" Tosh said looking down and feigning working.

"You and Owen," Emma declared succinctly yet lightheartedly. Emma could see Tosh was starting to get embarrassed by being found out so easily. "Don't worry, I understand. Not with Owen, I mean I know how you feel."

Tosh felt a kind of likeness with Emma, possibly because she had opened to Tosh before and seemed to have certain commonalities. "Really?"

"Yep. What do you feel like? A late night talk or a late night drink?"

"In my experience, when you start with the latter you end with the former," Tosh joked.

Emma and Tosh laughed which was starting to become more frequent. "Why don't you go home, Tosh? You've worked enough."

"You're right, I deserve some sleep. What about you? Are you going home anytime soon?"

"Actually, I wanted to go home long ago, but since I'm the new girl, I figured I should leave after everyone else. So I'm just trying get you lot home." Emma said with a nice smile. Tosh returned the smile and left to find Jack to say good-bye, or maybe talk about a little more.

"Hey Jack, I'm leaving for the day." Tosh pronounced while hanging on the door.

"O.k. then. You finished that bio-profile?"

"Uh, yeah. But I think Emma's staying late if you need something done."

Jack put his elbows on the table and let his head rest in his hands. "Good. On your way out tell her to update the Beta4 Auxiliary."

"But, it doesn't need any updating, Jack," Tosh pointed out.

"I know; I want to see if she _can_ do it. Do you think she can?"

Tosh could see where he was going and walked in to sit down. "If you ask me of her technical abilities, her records show how good she is. And I agree. If you're asking me if I think she can do this; I'd say that… I like her."

Jack turned his head and waited for Tosh to continue.

"I think she's good. She's definitely skilled enough."

"Yes," Jack concurred.

"If there are any problems with…teamwork cooperation, I think you should handle that Jack." She was right. "Anyway, I'm leaving. Do you still want me to tell Emma to update?"

"No, I can tell her. Go home Tosh." He walked her out and saw Emma sitting in the chair in front of the computer.

"Did you finish helping Gwen?" he asked. His booming voice against the silence a bit unexpected.

Emma turned around to address the person even though she knew it was Jack. "Yes, we finished. It's fine now."

"Oh." he said as a filler.

"So…what are you going to do with her?" Emma willed herself to say as smoothly as she could.

"By her you mean – "

"The bear. What are you going to do with the bear?"

"She's going to Welsh Mountain Zoo. She won't cause too much trouble for the zookeepers and we'll give them the guidelines on taking care of her special alien needs. Unless of course, you think it would take up time, money, and other resources." he stated all knowingly.

"No," she interjected swiftly. "Of course not. I…want to apologize about what happened before, I was…quick to act."

"You mean ready to kill?" he added. Emma lifted her eyes and met his, and she knew he saw. She slowly looked down.

"You were right, I do have quite a lot to learn about this place." She meant it sincerely but it felt so odd; it was easy not to make eye contact while saying it.

Jack could see what this was like for her, and he would know having gone through it himself. "Humble sounds very awkward coming out of your mouth," he said indicating he accepted her apology and there wasn't any more to be said about it.

"While everything sounds dirty coming from your mouth," she chuckled. "You won't be hearing that again very much from me so you better enjoy it." He didn't feel like making her learn any more. And he knew how right she was, so he picked up a biscuit from the plate and enjoyed it.

XXX

Driving in her new company car, thanks to her new undercover assignment, Emma was on her way to Suspect Prime or where the tracker she placed on him was. Her research discovered it was staying at some old shack with no registered owner. Her phone went off with the Torchwood tone. She answered and it was Gwen who called.

"Hi Gwen."

"Emma, the alien alert went off to an address around Riverside."

"Now? Are you on the way?"

"Yes, you can make it right?"

"No, no. I can be there." She didn't feel like annoying Gwen anymore. She seemed like a sensitive person or at least an emotional one. "I have to finish up something first but I'll be there."

Gwen was used to dropping everything when Torchwood called and here she was doing something else first. But Jack said she would work 'part-time' and he was the boss, even though part-time and Torchwood didn't go together. "If you can't make it, don't come."

"No, I can make it," she said with some insistence. If Gwen felt she couldn't then she just felt like proving her wrong. "Don't worry, I'll be there."

"Then, hurry. We don't really wait on one of our own."

"Good, don't wait for me. Bye."

She hung up and came to the house where Suspect Prime was. When she inspected the house, it was empty and it looked as if no one had lived there in a while. She easily broke into the house to take a look. It was dark with the occasional streaks of light because of the curtains over all the windows. The first rooms she encountered were austere, barely containing any furniture and needless to say badly kept furniture. She found a bedroom that was much more equipped than the rest of the house. There were clippings and photos taped on one wall, all having something alien related. On the other side of the room were all of the machinery; computers and monitors hooked up and some reading machines that belonged in a hospital. There were books and artifacts strewn all around including a telescope. She found a box filled with what looked like alien junk and some odd toys. This room was set up be someone who loved space but the lack of technology showed he or she was far behind the reality of what was out there.

Emma followed the room to the connected bathroom. As she walked she saw a figure in the bathtub covered by a blanket. She cautiously approached it and lifted the blanket to find out what was underneath. And she saw it, a Grendal. Emma almost reacted immediately but realized that it was dead but there were no external scars showing cause of death. Emma recognized its claw, and looked near its foot to find her tracker in the elaborate uniform it wore. Or maybe the uniform was part of the bodily structure. Either way, she retrieved it.

Then, she heard noise and realized someone was entering the house. The person was talking on the phone, it was a male voice that sounded young. Quickly, she closed the bathroom door leaving a crack open. The man walked into the bedroom still talking and moving about the room settling in. She glanced at the man and confirmed her suspicion that he was young; couldn't have been older than 18, maybe 19. She stayed quiet and heard snippets of his conversation.

"Yeah, mate…I know…Oh I have great news, I found something…I have here at the HQ…No, it's dead…Wait, what did ya say?... I-I can't hear you." To himself he muttered, "Bloody reception." He continued his conversation, "Wait, let me move around."

He walked out of the room and Emma could hear his voice changing volume as he moved. She quickly and quietly left the bathroom; she could see him walking around in what was supposed to be the kitchen. As he talked, she headed for the door, stopping at the edge of the wall to hide and check his position again. When it was safe, she exited the door she used to come in and went for her car. She needed to hurry and get to Riverside.

XXX

When Emma arrived at the old church, Ianto and Gwen were already hanging around the SUV. Gwen was fidgeting from waiting and Ianto had to remind her that it had only been a few minutes. Gwen was upset about more than just time efficiency. She had an odd feeling about this Emma. Gwen was used to being the more open-minded one or the more compassionate member, but she wasn't sure about Emma. She wasn't sure about bringing in someone who was so military, and already started out with a one off with Jack. But she had to put up with it for now.

They saw Emma pull up in her brand new car, a car unusual for a Torchwood employee. Except maybe Jack, everything he did was unusual.

"What are we here for?" Emma immediately asked when she saw them.

"It's a minor alert, there're signs of alien life around here. It's a routine investigation." informed Ianto.

"Come on, let's hurry up. It shouldn't take this long." Gwen insisted.

They all entered the dark and quiet place and spread out to look. Every corner was elaborate and grand, but the lingering silence provided the ominous ambiance, that always seemed apparent in churches; especially old and empty churches. They each went about searching until something went off.

"Oh no, energy levels are rising," Ianto said urgently while running.

Gwen and Emma started moving as well. "Ianto, what's going on?" Gwen asked.

"It's moving toward the alter, and the levels are climaxing."

They ran to the alter, coming from different directions and arrived at the communion table in front of the stands lighted by candles. There was nothing in sight yet Ianto was reading the data-scanner with a confused face.

"Where is it?" Emma asked.

"I don't understand; it should be right here." Suddenly, it appeared. It had the shape of a human. It was fully dressed in black but its skin was different. The face was like a squid, it had tentacles around the mouth and from them led a cord that was connected to a lighted ball in its hand. It caught the team off-guard with the sudden appearance, and then it spoke.

"They are here, and it will snap." Its voice was smooth and calm, almost friendly. It didn't move or approach them. But as quickly as it had come, it disappeared.

"What just happened?" Emma asked.

"It's gone, I can't find the signals." Ianto was punching away at the data-scanner, as Gwen and Emma started looking around with guns in hand to cover their bases and check the large space and corners.

"Ianto, Emma go back to the SUV. Check the laptop." Gwen ordered.

The two rushed back and started on the computers, but still there was nothing different indicating alien activity. They went back to Gwen who reported the same results. It was just gone, it was there and now it was gone. They headed back to the Hub, to finish the job as procedure.

XXX

Nothing else happened that day, at least nothing else that gave them anything interesting to do. During the conference meeting, Jack explained about the Ood, but after that instance there wasn't much left to do about them. The team did the rest of their job as normal, until it was time to go home.

Emma was getting the hang of working there. After, her newest revelation of the workings of Torchwood, she felt like proving that she belonged there. She didn't need them to like her, she just wanted them to know she was an asset. Emma had also come down with her minor case of insomnia that she liked solving with work.

Ianto walked into the room, seeing Emma on her laptop. He was a bit surprised; today was a slow day and she could have left long ago.

"Still working?"

"Yeah, I'm not tired so I just figured I could finish up some of the boring work instead of leaving it for tomorrow."

"Well, do you want some coffee if you're planning on working late?" He was already starting to turn around and head to the kitchen.

"Oh, I already made a new pot so you wouldn't have to."

"Oh, well that's quite all right. That's my job." It was a nice gesture, but Ianto didn't take it to mean anything. And it didn't mean anything. In fact, he was already planning on making some new coffee as he didn't expect it to taste good. As good as his at least.

"You do a lot around here Ianto. Everyone should help out with the up-keep," Emma said simply while perusing something on her laptop.

'If only' Ianto thought. The rest of team couldn't do his job if their life depended on it. "Since you're here, I still need you to give us your personal information for the database." He went to the computer and pulled up her employee profile.

"My personal information?"

"Yes, about your…other job." Ianto was still a bit confused on how exactly this was supposed to work. Actually, he felt a bit insulted. He remembers practically begging Jack to be a part of Torchwood Three and he had to apply for the job of a butler. And then, Jack brings in another girl who's supposed to work 'part-time' which made no sense whatsoever. What was so special about her that made Jack bend the rules? Ianto wasn't sure he wanted to know or maybe he wasn't sure if he wanted Jack to know.

"Right, you lot seem to want to know a lot about what I do outside of here."

"Our records need to be immaculate."

"Of course, I did the same for UNIT." Too bad she wasn't doing it now. She had already prepared everything; she forged all documentation necessary to prove that she worked for some old bloke who was an archaeologist and liked to collect things. She was sure it was good enough to bypass Torchwood, but they were…different.

"You are aware, we'll need everything about you. It's standard procedure."

"It seems like everyone here doesn't get to do much outside of Torchwood, anyway."

It was Torchwood life. Ianto knew that, everyone knew that. Torchwood became their life and eventually their life became Torchwood. "It's part of the job," he coolly replied.

She knew being dedicated to the job, but these Torchwood blokes gave the word a whole new meaning. "You all have your own separate lives don't you? We all have someplace else to go to when we leave and another life to lead outside."

Ianto expected that from a newcomer. "We try our best, but this is a demanding job."

"No,_ I_ had a demanding job at UNIT. What you do is much more than some job."

"Well, that's the way it is." Ianto said it the same way a person would say that water is wet. Even his expression was content and accepted. Emma found this concept a bit difficult to believe.

"Because it's your choice, right? I mean, that's not the way it has to be." Emma saw Ianto's face stay the same, and now it was starting to perturb her. "Oh come on. How can you possibly live like that? Devoting everything to Torchwood."

"We all choose to be here."

"And you're fine with that?"

Ianto made a shrug with his face saying, 'We sort of have to.'

"So what do you do then? You couldn't have started out this way?"

This made Ianto think about how exactly he got into Torchwood, especially this one. "Not exactly."

Ianto stared at the desk now looking almost…somber. Emma didn't recognize this look on Ianto. "Did you have a personal life outside of Torchwood?"

"Kind of, except not really." Lisa. He said her name in his head. What happened was so long ago, but he still remembered it vividly.

Emma was starting to become concerned. "What happened?"

"I loved her. And…I tried to make it work with Torchwood. But it all went wrong." He pictured it in his head now, everything that happened. It was bringing up his old emotions. Sorrow, fury, depression. He was holding it in, but he could feel it on the inside.

She started feeling sympathy for him. "Oh. I'm sorry." It was all she could say.

"No, it's not your fault." He wanted to blame Torchwood, and blame himself too. He was starting to think that maybe Emma was right and Torchwood was more than demanding. Maybe Torchwood asked too much out of them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry or anything."

Ianto heard pity in her voice, whether or not she had intended to do so was unsure. Either way, he felt like leaving. "No, no. Just… Why don't you put in all your information yourself? Tosh showed you – "

"Yeah, sure," she interrupted. "No problem." Before she could say anything else, Ianto started walking away. She felt bad about opening old wounds. That look on his face, stayed with her, it was so organic. It made her feel regretful. This felt odd to her, for some reason her time here has caused her to feel rather than do. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing.

Ianto walked away to someplace he could be alone. Maybe he could clean up, occupy his mind. He didn't like to think about Lisa. He didn't like to think about the bad times in his past. He wasn't stupid, he didn't deny anything, but he had gone through enough. Ianto didn't feel like going though it again. So he took care of it and composed himself. He did what he was good at doing, his job.


End file.
